Sawyer, Suzana. Crude chronicles: indigenous politics, multinational
oil, and neoliberalism in Ecuador. Duke University , 2004. 294p bibl index afp ISBN
0-8223-3283-3, $74.95; ISBN 0-8223-3272-8 pbk, $21.95 . Reviewed in 2005apr
CHOICE.
Sawyer (anthropology, Univ. of California, Davis) presents a damning critique
of neoliberal policies as played out in a Third World dependent economy. Based
on field research in the Ecuadorian Amazon in the 1990s, her book recounts
how the grassroots Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Pastaza (OPIP) challenged
multinational corporations that sought to drill for oil in its territory. OPIP
organized a successful march in 1992 to publicly denounce petroleum policies,
built alliances with peasants to challenge changes in a 1994 agrarian reform
law, and inserted itself into discussions on constructions of national identities
in the 1998 constituent assembly. The result is an excellent example of politically
engaged research in which Sawyer does not present herself as a neutral observer
but as an activist deeply committed to the rights of indigenous peoples. Implicitly
and perhaps inadvertently, this book underscores the fact that social movements
succeed only when they build successful alliances with outside supporters.
The book is surprisingly free of jargon and will be a seminal work to anyone
desiring a more profound understanding of how indigenous movements in Ecuador
in the 1990s became a model for social movement organizations. Summing
Up:
Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. -- M. Becker, Truman State University